Former heralded prospect pitcher Mark Prior, who started his season in triple A Iowa has been shut down for the season. He is getting surgery on his right shoulder. Although the injury should not be career ending it will end any hopes Prior had of reclaiming his previous touting as one of the top prospects in baseball.

“Dr. Andrews (Prior’s doctor) feels comfortable that he will still have a career. This is certainly not career-ending,” Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said Wednesday. “He felt optimistic that he would be able to pitch next year. ... At his age, he should not have a problem responding and coming back after a strenuous rehab.”

At this point in Prior’s career he’s had so many injuries that its hard to see him being successful on a major league level. Yes he has more than enough stuff to get by but his mechanics are always off, which is why he always has to have arm surgery. the Cubbies have a great young pitcher named Rich Hill who throws hard and complements his fastball with a 12 to 6 curve. They need to focus on Hill and their other prospects (Felix Pie, Angel Pagan, Ryan Theriot, etc…) and stop hoping for Prior and Kerry Wood to become the pitchers everyone thought they would be. At 26 years old Prior isn’t exactly at prospect age, it’d take a complete revamping of his mechanics for him to make a comeback. This is just another Injury marred season for Mark Prior, and team management’s patience has to be running thin.